Steps away from Heaven (I'd rather be with You)
by Rushisu
Summary: Estelle has been trapped inside a tower for years, the members of Brave Vesperia have a critical mission to accomplish in Zaphias and Captain Flynn Scifo tries not to get his feelings mixed with his job. Fluri
1. Prologue

Yeah, I am alive and hooolyy shit it has been too long since I published anything. I wonder if I my skills have rusted over these years... Anyhow, welcome to read my first multiple-chapter Fluri fic. It'll probably be my last too and the chances that I never complete this are pretty high (I do try though!)

This was inspired by Tangled, which I find to be great movie. However, Tangled is just the mushrooms that my extremely fickle muse was sniffing when thinking about fic ideas. So no long-haired Estelle, no singing about pretty lights aaand no evil witch mothers.

This is also totally AU, so while there are blastia and aer, they are no bad and Ba'ul is just a normal monster !

**Pairings**: Flynn/Yuri, may have others (this depends on the readers)  
(Silly) **Warnings**: Yaoi, Slash, gay people, unintentionally oocness, some violence, Ba'ul is in his first from 'cos being a giant whale is so unfair, slight Flynn angst about everything because I love Emo!Flynn (not too much because this is a humor fic), Yuri can be a bloody bastard, Zagi and his crazy personality, Judith and her boobs, Rita being violent little tsundere, everything bad happens to Flynn, I am not kidding about Flynn getting hurt a lot, Sodia is **not** in love with Flynn, she just blames Yuri for everything that has happened to Flynn, BAMF!Flynn, **no** Sodia bashing, execpt maybe little. **UN-BETAED**  
Disclaimer: I only own a copy of ToPS3! Please don't sue me!

Summary: Estelle has been trapped inside a tower for years, the members of Brave Vesperia have a critical mission to accomplish in Zaphias and Captain Flynn Scifo tries not to get his feelings mixed with his job.

0o0o0

_**Steps away from Heaven (I'd rather be with You)**_

_Prologue_

_A chip on your shoulder – Being upset for something that happened in the past_

0o0o0

Captain Flynn Scifo studied the painting above him. The painting of a woman and a young child, both whom he knew in theory, from the books and the stories of older knights.

Blue eyes focused on the woman on the canvas. On her bright turquoise eyes which were looking in the distance and her long, wavy hair with the color of fresh cherry blossoms, gathered in a high bun with a beautiful hair ornament.

Flynn turned his gaze on the child – a small eight years old girl. She was standing next to the woman, smiling shyly at the artist. Her pink hair was pulled in two small pigtails and emerald eyes were looking straight at Flynn – who looked right back, almost like expecting the girl to come out the canvas.

Flynn shook his head slightly, scolding himself for such a childish thought. He heard fireworks exploding outside, where the people were admiring how the sky turned red, green and blue. Otherwise it was quiet and the knight couldn't see another soul within his vision.

Another set of fireworks exploded and Flynn turned around to look out the window. Goldn sparks flied in the sky, only to disappear seconds later. The knight noticed small hints of frost in the corner of the window and felt slightly proud. It was surprisingly cold autumn night and yet the streets were filled with people – while they could be sleeping in their warm beds.

Of course, this was an important event for the citizens of Zaphias. You see, these fireworks were different. There were no cries of delight as the colors painted the sky, no laughter or chattering within the crows. No, these fireworks were to honor the dead. And this year's event was special, after all it has been ten years since the Princess Estellise was kidnapped.

Every single person knew the story, how one day the little princess had gone to her bed, only to have disappear by the morning. The search lasted for months with no success and in the end, the Queen fell ill due the grief and stress which caused her death.

However, even though it has been so long, the effects of the Princess' disappearance were still strongly present. For example, most of the Council and knights believed that it had been an assassin guild's work – since during that time the already tense relationship between Guilds and Imperial knights had grown even more negative. But without proofs, this theory stayed as it was – a theory, but only a fool would think that it didn't have a effect between the Guilds and Imperial Knights. There had been a scent of a war in the air, but nobody dared to speak of, yet everybody were aware of it.

Flynn's thoughts were interrupted by another explosion. He quickly looked out the window, only to caught a glimpse of a purple sparks. Sighing, he unconsciously lifted his left hand to rub the nape of his aching neck, moment later feeling his fingers touching soft bandages.

Oh, right. He had forgotten about _that_.

The blonde man let out a deep sigh. He had been gone for some time now, Sodia would have a fit if she found an empty bed in the medical bay.

Flynn turned his back on the window, facing the painting once again. He saluted to the painting, like he would to a person above his rank. It might have looked silly, but this painting was special. It was the only piece of art with the late Queen and Princess Estelle ever made. This was Flynn's way to respect the dead.

With one last glimpse out the window, Flynn left the hallway.

0o0o0

"Wow! Look at those!" Karol gasped from the wagon, pointing grant fireworks rising from distance. "That's really amazing, not even the best firework maker in Dahngrest could create something like that!"

Somewhere deep in the wagon, Raven snorted. "So friggin' noisy... the old man needs his beauty sleep, ya know!"

Another voice snorted. " I am certain that no matter how long _beauty_ sleep you take, old pervert, it won't affect your ugly mug in any way," stated Rita, turning another page of her thick book.

Just when Raven was about to answer, a dreamy female voice called out from the rider's bench. "Children, children – calm down," Judith chuckled as a blue colored firework exploded above the capital city. "My, that is quite pretty. Don't you agree Yuri?" She asked the man next to her.

"Mmm... yeah sure," Yuri muttered with a uninterested voice. The blue haired woman turned to look at her friend with raised eyebrows. "What?" the black-haired man asked after he noticed Judith's questioning gaze.

"You have been kinda distant," Judy noted, "I thought you would be more excited – you _love_ messing with the Imperial Knights!"

Yuri waved his hand distantly. "Just little tired," he replied. "Besides, I have seen those fireworks every since they started – you kinda lose the interest after few years."

"That's not what I mean," Judy noted. "You have been distant _this whole trip!"_

"Lovely Judy here is right, Yuri," Raven said, sticking his head from the inside of the wagon. "Ya didn't say anythin' when our lil' mage here was hit on by those sailors in Capua Nor!" the archer barely managed to finish his sentence before Rita's brick-like book fled from the wagon straight into Raven's head.

"Shut the fuck up, you old pervert!" the temperamental girl threatened from the depths of the wagon.

"Exactly," Judy nodded, noticing Yuri's slightly disbelieving look. Her violet eyes studied the face of her friend for a while. "Is it because this is your hometown?" she mused aloud and for a tiniest moment, the corner of Yuri's eye twitched.

_'__Bingo!'_ the blue-haired woman thought but refrained from saying anything. She liked to make her observations alone with only her own eyes and brains. _'Now, I wonder what is it about Zaphias that makes Yuri so bothered...'_ she thought, giving Bau'ul a gentle order to slow down.

Meanwhile, Yuri rolled his eyes. He knew that she knew, they were similar enough to know each other's ways of thinking. However, Judy was wrong. _'It's not the Zaphias itself, Judith,'_ thought Yuri. _'It's a person within Zaphias.' _

0o0o0

She always heard the fireworks, but was never able to see them.

Bright green eyes stared at the thick and tall trees, making her unable to see the sky properly. Another year has passed, she realized. The book slipped from her dedicated hands as the girl stood up, walking to a small bookshelf. After rummaging it for a while, she let out a pleased sigh as the girl pulled a paper sheet between two brown leather books.

Not wanting to waste any time, she sat down on the cold stone floor and started to fold the paper sheet into smaller and smaller shape. Within minutes, the ordinary piece of paper had a new form – a simple, white flower resembling lily. Happy with her origami, the girl quickly ran to a small bed in a corner, tossing herself to the floor again to peer under the bed.

She pushed her pale hand under the bed while trying her best to see what she was looking for. Soon after, she pulled a wooden crate from the darkness. Wiping dust off it, the girl removed the lid and smiled slightly.

The crate was filled with the origami flowers, some more clumsily made than others, but all of them bearing similar look of the one she had just made.

One for each year... She thought sadly, counting the flowers by using her fingers.

_One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight...nine..._

There were nine flowers in the crate.

She froze, picking up the newest origami.

_Ten._

Emerald eyes stared at the flower made of paper. It has been ten years since she had been able to feel the grass under her feet, to see the city and the castle. Ten years in this tower, isolated from the rest of the world.

She dropped the flower, like it was burning her, with its siblings and quickly pushed the crate back under the bed. The voice of fireworks felt suddenly much louder and the girl covered her ears, closing her eyes too, like hoping it to make the sounds go away. She wanted them to stop, childishly hoping that it would make her forget.

0o0o0

Annd this is the end of the prologue! It's pretty short, but I promise the next chapter will be longer. And something may happen too! And by the way, if you have read my TotA fic Luna Nova, it has been adopted by MischievousWolf66 – so go read it if you're into originalxreplica gayness!

Also, reviews make me happy and thus they give me strength to write faster.


	2. Come Hell or High Water

God-fucking-dammit I hate you guys... Nah just, kidding, but I am very unhappy right now with you. WHY WOULD YOU GUYS LEAVE SUCH NICE REVIEWS?! They made me post this chapter waaaay sooner than I originally planned. This was already written when I posted the prologue, so don't think that the third chapter will come as quickly as this one. But if I don't post the next chapter in a fair amount of time (let's say about during this year), feel free to send a message and make my conscience cry blood. That usually works.

Anyhow, warnings and pairings are on the prologue and I still don't own Tales of Vesperia. **And still un-betaed**.

0o0o0

_**Steps away from Heaven (I'd rather be with You)**_

_First Chapter_

_Come Hell or High Water – Any difficult situation or obstacle_

0o0o0

Karol was having a nice dream about Nan when somebody decided to bang a pot loudly next to his ear. The loud, and rude, wake-up startled the young guild leader enough to make him shoot up from his sleeping bag, flailing his feet and hands while doing so.

"Ah, the eggbears are attacking!" he shouted, blinking rapidly while looking around. The only thing he saw somewhat clearly was Yuri's amused face plus a stick and metal pot in the swordsman's hands.

"Wakey wakey Cap, today's an important day!" the older man announced. Karol rubbed his eyes, now able to see his surroundings much clearer. After the last of the fireworks had been shot, they camped on a small hill, just outside the gates of Zaphias and now it was clear, sunny morning with a few white clouds adorning the azure sky.

A delicious smell of bacon and eggs hit the young boy's nose and Karol tried his best not to drool. On his left, there was a small campfire lit up and above it somebody – Yuri most likely – had set up a well-used frying pan with slices of bacon and sunny side up eggs. Next to the camp fire were Repede, who was staring at the stirring bacon unblinking and Rita, reading one of her many books while nibbling absentmindedly a piece of toast.

"You better get up before old man smells the food," Yuri stated, pointing at the older man couple meters away, snoring loudly and completely unaware of his surroundings.

Karol crawled out of his comfy sleeping bag and approached the cracking fire. Grapping a metallic plate, the guild leader sat down next to Repede and started piling food on his plate. When he was about to eat the bacon, Judith appeared with Ba'ul, the former riding on the whale-like monster.

"Where were you two?" Karol asked as soon as the couple reached their campsite.

"Just stretching our legs," the bluenette smiled, stroking Ba'ul's scales tenderly. The levitating monster let out a sound that sounded slightly like a purr.

Suddenly, Rita closed her book, "Now that everyone is here..." she stood up, picking Karol's drinking bottle and without any word, marched to the sleeping man and poured ice cold water on the archer.

"Imma drowin', drowin'!" Raven spluttered. Rita ignored him and tossed the now empty bottle back to Karol. "We need a plan."

0o0o0

It was truly a beautiful morning – birds were chirping, the sun was shining and the clouds were pure white.

The weather was somewhat like what commandant Alexei was feeling. He was standing by a large window, looking down at the city were people were preparing for the coming day. Small people, ignorant people.

Yesterday had been a good day, the silver-haired man mused, a corner of his lips twitching upwards.

"Ten years..." the words felt good. Double-digit amount of years. Good amount of years. An amount of years that made people think. It was good, he needed people to think. Especially one certain person.

A row of knocks interrupted Alexei's thoughts. "You may enter," he called out, returning to his work table. The door opened, revealing a knight. "Sir, his highness wants an audience with you," the soldier stated, saluting to his superior.

Ah, speaking of the devil...

"Do let him in," the commandant answered, hiding his delight under a cool expression. "Prince Ioder, how can I help you?" he asked when the blonde young man entered the room.

"I apologize the sudden interruption, commandant," Ioder said, " I assure you, this won't take long but... I need to ask your option about... something." the prince said the last bit quietly. Alexei waited for the younger man to continue, though already aware of what Ioder was going to say.

The blonde man took a deep breath. "Yesterday got me thinking... well, it made me think about it more than usual," the young prince walked to the window, looking down at the market place where people were setting up their stalls. "Where do you think she is now?"

Alexei studied the wistful look on his prince's face. "Personally, I think she is dead, your highness," he said blankly. He knew the prince, he knew where the line was, how much he can say, what he can say without any damage.

The blonde man laughed humorlessly. "Yes, that's the most logical option." Ioder stated. "But why, who, where? Who could do that to a small, innocent child?" there was a hint of anger in the prince's tone.

Just like he had predicted, Alexei thought. The number ten... it got people thinking – recalling the incident and making people reconsider the theories.

The knight kept his calm face. "Your highness is well aware of my personal belief in that subject," he replied smoothly. It was true, he had made his option clear, by using subtle hints, trying to plant his belief in the prince's mind – but without any success. This time, the blonde man turned to face his commandant, a ghost of a smile plastered on his face.

"Yes... but I cannot believe that _they_ would do such a thing – despise their dislike of the Empire."

The silver-haired man just nodded, having accepted people's ignorance and foolishness a long time ago. Yet there always was a spark of annoyance every time he heard a reply such as Ioder's. "Excuse me your majesty, but I have to go trough the Scifo's Brigade latest reports..."

Ioder blinked. "Oh yes, I apologize for taking your time with such foolish blabbering," he approached the door, hand on the golden knob when he halted. "Any progress with the assassin?" he suddenly asked.

"Not yet, Your Highness," Alexei shook his head. "They must have been from a professional assassin guild... an amateur couldn't be able to defeat Captain Scifo." he said quietly, not certain if his annoyance was heard in his voice.

"Yes, I agree," Ioder muttered. "Have a good day commandant," he said before closing the door.

Alexei nodded. "You too, Your Highness."

As soon as the prince's footsteps could no longer e heard, the tanned man let out a slightly frustrated sigh. Ioder was a naive fool who couldn't see the bigger picture – just a mindless marionette doll, but with a hint of a stubborn spine, just a small hint that annoyed Alexei the most.

However, it wasn't all in vain, Alexei smirked. He had seen it, the uncertainty in Ioder's eyes. The question 'what if'. What if Alexei and most of the Council is right? What if the Princess Estellise's disappearance was caused by Guild Union?

For years the Imperial and Guild Union had fought about the fate of the disappeared princess – whatever it had been a work of a guild or the Imperial itself. But without no evidences, people had not been able to do nothing more than speculate and form their own options of the happenings. Neither the Imperial or Guild could prove their innocence, leaving them unable to trust each other.

And now, there was ten years amount of doubt and tension, bottled up and ready to be released. To start a war between the Imperial Knights and Guild Union.

A war between the Imperial and the Guilds... Alexei felt a jolt of pleasant shivers going up his spine. Tension led to war. War lead to a chaos. And that was what he needed – chaos.

Soon he would be able to take the next step, Alexei smiled. Ioder's expression had confirmed it. The boy sure wore his emotions in his sleeve, a quality not fit for a future leader – which he was never going to be, obviously. But now he needed a push, a spark to create the domino effect.

But what?

0o0o0

The members of Brave Vesperia were gathered around the map of Zaphias. "The easiest way to get inside is by the sewers," Raven announced grimly.

"Hell no," Rita said with a disgusted tone. The looks on Karol and Judith's faces said the exact same thing.

"Well, not only it's the easiest way," Yuri butted in, "It's our only way to get in. If old man here enters the castle by front door, it's gonna cause ruckus, you remember?"

"Hey, hey, hey – don't push all the blame on the old man, will ya?" Raven whined, giving nervous glances at Rita's – who was glaring the older man with a murderous look – direction. "Ya got a name yerself in the city, right Yuri?"

The dark-haired man just shrugged. "Maybe, but I'm not the great Captain Schwann Oltorain," he rolled the last words slowly, enjoying the mortified look on Raven's face.

Like Yuri, the older man had once been a part of the Imperial knights. He had even become a Captain of his own Brigade. But years ago, even before Yuri enrolled, he had left because of his disagreements with the Commandant.

"But that was a long time ago," the ex-captain whined. "They don't probably recognize me anymore!"

"That's unlikely," Judy spoke up. "Thanks to his becoming a part of a Guild Union, Schwann is blamed for being a traitor to the Imperial – something like that isn't easily forgotten." she tapped her chin with thoughtful look on her misty eyes. "What if we send him to go by the sewers?" she pointed at Raven.

Karol shook his head. "No, we need to stick together."

"Nice going there pervert!" Rita muttered angrily. "Thanks to you we get to crawl in a fucking sewer! Again!"

"Any monsters down there?" Judith asked before Raven could answer back to Rita.

"Just some reeeeally annoying and smelly monster rats," Yuri replied, recalling his encounter with the said creatures when he had been a knight. "Not to mention the knights in the castle," the young man sighed. "Seriously, what the hell is going inside Don's head? Breaking in the Commandant of the Imperial knights' office doesn't sound like a good way to ease the tension to me."

"I hear you," Karol sighed, feeling dread and panic settling in his stomach. While the boy admired and respected the Don with all his heart and soul, he failed to see the reason of this suicide mission. And why had he given the mission to them – of all guilds? Such a huge task should be given to one of the Master Guild!

Suddenly, Raven groaned, grabbing his messy hair and gaining everybody's attention. "Aww crap I knew I had forgotten somethin'," he exclaimed.

Rita was the one to ask the question everybody were thinking. "What haven't you told us this time?" she asked slowly.

The oldest member of the guild considered his next words carefully, looking at the rest of the group with a serious look. "Zagi escaped," he said finally, his response meeting a heavy, shocked silence.

"_What_?!" Karol shouted, eyes wide with horror. "How, when, what?!"

Raven buried his head in his hands. "One month ago," he said. "But I found out about it just two days ago, just before we left Dahngrest!" Raven quickly added.

"A _month_!?" screeched Rita, her eyes holding fear and rage in them. "He has been on loose that long without us knowing about it! Fuck, think what he could have done..." she stopped, replaying her words in her mind. "Wait a minute..."

"Indeed..." Judy said, frown on her beautiful face. "Why hasn't he done anything?" she wondered aloud. Capturing Zagi – a trained assassin who had completely lost his marbles – had been the biggest achievement that Brave Vesperia has ever done. But as a result, the lunatic had gained an obsession with the small guild. According to one prison guard, the assassin spend his days by planning how to kill each one of them.

"Don believes that someone hired him," Raven replied. "That's how he escaped too."

"Wait, somebody hired that lunatic willingly?" Yuri raised his eyebrows.

"Not just anybody," the oldest member of the guild stated softly. "The prisoner next to Zagi's cell told us that he had become agitated days before the escape. The dude had been muttering a lot to himself – since he loves the sound of his own voice. But instead of talking about how to make our innards go outward, he kept repeating 'mission', 'Imperial' and 'Alexei'."

"Seriously," Rita groaned. "We're gonna bust Alexei's office – which can't end that well – only because a criminal claims that a fucking lunatic has maybe muttered about him?"

"Don's really that desperate?" Karol whispered, eyes wide with worry – the seriousness of all this finally sinking in the young boy. A heavy silence fell over the guild, each one of them wondering the situation.

It wasn't a secret that the Commandant of the Imperial Knights disliked the Guilds and the only reason why the war hasn't started yet was the crown prince Ioder and some of the Council. But there had been a peace – if you didn't include the tension – between them. All of them had been thinking that, while Alexei was very powerful man, he was all talk and no action – at least in this situation.

Finally, Yuri sighed, rubbing his temples. "Well, we won't start a world war by sitting here, let's go."

0o0o0

_The explosion was the last thing Flynn heard before the foul sewer water surrounded him. The heavy metal armor he was wearing was pulling him deeper towards the bottom. The bastard had been planning this from the beginning, he realized, cursing himself for falling in such an easy trap. A trap that forced him take off the armor – if he didn't want to drown and die in such a dishonorable way._

_Breathing was becoming more and more like a chore so Flynn was out of alternative options. Forcing his eyes open, he began to unbuckle his iron gauntlets. They came off easily, slowly falling towards the bottom as Flynn took off his chain mail as quick as he could._

_Flynn was fully aware that each lost piece of armor decreased his chance of winning. Unlike him, the assassins were trained to fight in light armor, sacrificing their defense for speed. But knights... the mere core of their training was to have enough strength to have high defense so that enemy could attack them without doing that much damage. To lose that defense for a knight like him – especially while fighting against an assassin – it could be fatal._

_For a lunatic, the assassin was quite smart._

_Kicking off his boots, Flynn started to swim towards the surface._

0o0o0

The medic – an old, over-weighed woman with stern face – removed the bandages with professional and firm moves. Flynn tried to figure out what the woman was thinking, but other than few grunts, there were no signs of expressions on her face. She poked Flynn's shoulder with a sharp needle. "Did you feel that?" she asked, staring straight into his eyes as the captain nodded.

"That's good..." the medic muttered, more to herself than to Flynn. "Very good..." The blonde man stayed silent, staring at his reflection from the glass doors of a huge cabinet.

He looked absolutely pathetic, Flynn decided gloomily. He was pale with a hint of gray on his face and the coal dark rings under his blue eyes made him look like a walking dead. His blonde hair didn't have its usual shine and the lack of Flynn's usual everyday training made him look thinner and more fragile.

It also might be the fact that his right arm was missing.

There was knock on the door, which interrupted both the medic and captain's thoughts. "It's open!" the woman shouted. Soon after, Witcher entered the room, carrying a large box. He glanced around the examination room and when his eyes met with Flynn, he said "Captain," and saluted, eyes staying on Flynn's right shoulder little longer than necessary.

"Witcher," the blonde captain gave him a nod. The mage approached the medic and Flynn before carefully placing the box on the floor right next to the examination bed, letting out a relieved sigh.

"You came just in time," the medic stated, arranging weird looking objects on a metallic tray.

"Oh, so we can- umm..." Witches muttered, pointing the box.

The only woman in the room nodded sternly. "The wound has been recovering well – no signs of infection or any other complications. The nerves of his shoulder respond to a touch and pain, though slightly slowly – but I am not concerned about that," she paused, glancing again Flynn's right shoulder with calculating look. "What concern me, however, is the possibility of Captain still having leftovers of that poison in his bloodstream. The poison was a nasty mix of fungus powder and filifolia leaves... rather dangerous combination, especially for humans..." she said quietly.

_'So, I may still die,'_ Flynn thought but kept his mouth shut.

There was a heavy silence between the trio. Suddenly Witcher coughed, "I'm certain everything's fine, Captain," he exclaimed, though his expression said differently. None of them were certain of the future and the Captain's fate.

"Is that my new hand, Witcher?" Flynn awkwardly changed the subject. He was looking at the box that Witcher had been carrying when he entered the room.

The mage blinked, his eyes following the direction of Flynn's gaze. "O-Oh yes, Captain!" He mumbled and clumsily opened the box. "This is the latest Hermes model," the mage pulled a man-made arm out of the box. Flynn studied the artificial limb, relieved that it was just what he had requested.

Since Terca Lumieres was a dangerous world with a high monster population, man-made limbs weren't that rare – especially among soldiers and merchants. Because of this, there were two different kind of extra limbs that a person could gain – depending on their purse, of course.

Limbs with Bodhia blastia were usually favored by fighters and soldiers. Instead of being modeled after a normal limb, they were planned to work like weapons, thanks to the blastia core they had. But this made them clumsier, both in appearance and everyday chores. That hadn't been what Flynn wanted, he wanted to be strong thanks to his hard training, not because of an artificial weapon. However, most Imperial Knights, that had experienced the same situation, owned a bodhia limb and the blonde knight hadn't been sure if he could get a hermes model – despise being a captain of his own brigade.

"It's not like those Bodhia arms with extra skills – these Hermes models are just like normal limbs and take the energy from your spinal cord instead of aer. They are also ready to use right after it's attached – though it takes a while until you'll be able to master fine motor coordination – such as pincer grip, so writing might be a challenge at first..."

"What about fighting?" Flynn asked immediately.

The green-haired youth blinked behind his glasses. "Umm, Captain is right handed, correct?" he asked and the blonde man nodded. "W-Well, technically as soon as the arm is ''planted'' but compared your old skill it won't be nowhere as high as it used to be," the mage winced by his own words, like it was he who had lost an arm, "a-a-at least for now on... And it'll be impossible for you to have a firm grip over a sword handle, at least until you'll get use to it..."

_'Well,'_ Flynn thought, _'It's better than not being able to fight at all.'_ The thought wasn't all that comforting. Maybe he should try to learn how to handle a sword with his left hand.

If Yuri could do it, so could he.

Flynn mentally slapped himself. He had been able to avoid thinking of that subject for weeks and now that the Pandora's box was open, all the thoughts of his childhood friend rushed into his mind.

Flynn could remember when Yuri had started practicing his ambidextrous fighting style. They had been ten and Flynn laughed for weeks. He had thought it to be silly and unnecessary, just waste of time. Plus it had looked absolutely hilarious.

Of course, as the time passed, Yuri's unique technique changed from funny and clumsy into something... beautiful and so Yuri-like.

Flynn would never be able to do that.

"Can we start now?" Flynn asked politely, looking at the medic. She nodded, taking the arm off Witcher's hands. "Now Captain, this may hurt a little..."

0o0o0

"I spy with my little eyes something... dirty."

"Well that's unfair Karol, everything is dirty down here."

"Ugh, this smell... Shit, I would _kill_ for fresh air!"

"G-Genius mage? Stop starin' at this old man like that, yer freakin' me out!"

"Well Rita, if you think this is bad – think about Repede here."

"Oh yeah. Dog's nose is much more sensitive than human's."

The dog in question only let out a small and pathetic whine as the members of Brave Vesperia made their way through the smelly sewers. Judith gave the dog a light pat on his head, "There there Repede. Just a little longer," she smiled encouragingly.

"Oy Judy dear, why won't you comfort this old and poor man!" Raven whined behind the bluenette. Just when she was about to reply, the voices of many vicious sewer rats echoed trough the walls. The group went to their battle position as a pack of rats attacked from the cracks on the walls.

"Son of a bitch!" Rita cursed, casting fire balls hurling towards the rats. "I fucking hate sewers!"

"Well, they are not that strong," Judy stated, sending two rats flying and jumping after them, "or smart if you think about it." she finished, landing on the ground with ease while the rats vanished above her.

Yuri was about to finish one when he noticed movement in the corner of his eye. "Yo Captain Karol, there's more of these behind that corner!"

The guild leader turned to look at the said direction. "I'll handle them!" he said, running after them quickly, due the lack of his usual axe.

"Oh fuck this, Tidal Wa–"

"Rita, no!" Raven shouted. "If ya summon a giant wave now, it'll get mixed with that nasty sewer water! And I would rather not be covered with that!" the archer sent an arrow flying towards a rat which was about to attack Yuri, hitting the target with perfect accuracy.

"Demon Fang!" Yuri shouted, swinging his sword and unleashing energy hurling towards his opponents. "I second that!"

Judith landed next to Yuri, giving a good kick to one rat, cracking its skull open. "Oh you guys, don't tell me you're afraid of getting little dirty?"

"With sewer water? I would rather eat old man's socks – you have no idea where that water comes from!"

Judith chuckled. "Think of it as a chance of a lifetime!" she stated, glancing around. "Oh, looks like we're out of rats to kill. Too bad," she sighed.

"Why didn't we bring more holy bottles?" Rita groaned, kicking a rat corpse just before it vanished with a loud poof.

"Umm, guys?" Karol's voice called out. "You should come here and take a look..."

The rest of the guild looked at each other, confused but did as Karol requested. "Something wrong Captain-" Yuri started, approaching Karol but halted as soon as he saw what the brown-haired boy was looking at.

The tunnel that was hidden by a corner was in a horrible condition. Half of the platform had collapsed in the water and the walls were filled with sword slashes and cracks. There were pieces of wall and platform everywhere on the floor, both small and big hunks of rock.

Raven let out a whistle. "Damn, what the heck happened here?" he wondered aloud, studying the slashes on the walls. "Must have been one hell of a fight."

"These weren't here half a year ago," Yuri stated, frowning as he kicked a rubble into the water. "Can you smell anything, Repede?" he asked.

The knife wielding dog pushed his snout to the ground, sniffing furiously the stone floor under them. After a moment of investigating, he raised his head and let out a small whine. "That's what I thought," the raven-haired man sighed.

"That means no?" Karol asked.

Yuri nodded. "The sewer air makes it impossibly to point out any specific scents – especially if the incident has happened some time ago ." he explained. "A failed assassination attempt maybe? Or just some idiot knight practicing with a sword for the first time in their lives?"

"If it's the latter, then I bet it was someone from Schwann brigade," Rita snorted. "Can we move on, every wasted minute down here makes more of my braincells commit suicide." without listening what the others' responses, she marched deeper into the sewers.

"Oh dear, that's not good," chuckled Judith as she started to follow the younger girl. "Come along boys, can't have Rita lose her braincells on a critical mission like this!"

The rest of the guild followed obligingly until they came across a crossover. "Which way?" Rita asked, one foot tapping the floor impatiently.

The ex-knights looked at each tunnel with analyzing looks. "This way," they said at the same time, Raven pointing at the left tunnel while Yuri was looking at the right tunnel. A moment of silence fell over them as the dark-haired men stared at each other, eyebrows raised.

"Let's turn right," Karol announced.

"Seconded!"

"Yes, let's do that."

"Woof!"

"Oh c'mon guys," Raven whined as they moved on. "I'm not that untrustworthy, am I?"

"Do you even remember what happened last time we followed you advice – Twerp still sees nightmares about that!"

"I do not!" the boy in question tried to argue back but everybody ignored him.

"Eggbear nest, filled with just hatched and very hungry eggbears, that's what happened!" The mage flailed her hands around.

"That was just a lil' mistake on my part..."

"A mistake that could easily have cost our damned lives!"

"But-" Raven started but was shushed quiet by Yuri.

"And here we are kids," he announced, pointing at a ladder on the dirty wall. "Ladies first," Yuri stepped aside, bowing mockingly while Rita was giving Raven pointed looks.

"Oh really?" Judith said, one eyebrow raised. "Never thought you would use such sly ways to get look a of girl's undergarment." she winked slyly as the kritya was about to start climbing. "If you want to get on the second base Yuri, you only need to ask!"

The raven-haired man just gave his friend a smile. "But I have already been there and done that."

The blue-haired woman halted, looking down at her fellow guild member. "Well, this is the first time I have heard this!" she exclaimed, faking a hurtful look. "And here I thought we're suppose to share all our secrets over sleepovers and nail painting."

"Judy, I am a twenty-one year old man, did you really think I haven't done that?" Yuri asked as he followed Judith, Repede hanging on his shoulder like a potato sack.

"Well, the pervert here hasn't," Rita pointed out. "And he's fourteen years older than you."

"Hey, what makes yer think that this old man hasn't experience the sins of flesh!" Raven whined while standing on the first step of the ladder. "C'mon genius mage, women have lined up to get a piece of this!"

The youngest guild member had covered his ear with his hands. "I am not listening this conversation..." he muttered quietly to himself.

"Oh really?" Rita replied to the older man, ignoring her guild leader's agony. "Did they also cost 1000 gald per night?" she glanced up the ladder, then back to Karol. "What are you waiting for twerp, up you go!" the brown-haired girl ordered. The boy in question flinched like he had been electrocuted, quickly bolting towards the ladder.

Meanwhile, at the top of the ladders, Judith was studying the ceiling. "It's kinda dark here, what exactly am I looking for?"

"There should be a round handle somewhere, find it and rotate it counterclockwise!" Yuri said under her.

After a moment of searching, the bluenette felt the said object and with firm grip, she did as Yuri had told and soon the ceiling made crackling noises, like it hadn't been in use for a long time. "Here we go," Judith said, jumping out of the sewer.

"Finally!" Rita shouted while Karol let out a quiet "whoop!"

"Now we better shut our traps," Raven stated quietly. "There might be guards at the other side of the door."

"What a boring, sad lives they have..." Yuri mused aloud, dropping Repede on the floor. "One of the many reasons why I ditched this hellhole."

Quiet as a mouse, Repede approached the door and sniffed the crack between the door and floor. After a moment of examining, he raised his head and slightly shook it.

"No guards?" Karol asked, eyes filled with wonder. "But I thought that Imperial Knights were really paranoid about the security?"

Yuri let out a laugh, one hand on the door knob. "Trust me, some of them are," he said softly, opening the door. "Now, who wants to play hide-and-seek with Imperial Knights?"

0o0o0

So how ya lot are feeling right now? Kinda dialogue heavy, sorry about that and I generally am not quite satisfied with this chapter.

Next time, on Dragon Ball Z- I mean SafH(IrbewY): We have reunions, foreshadowing and lots of other stuff! And you'll get to read about them much faster if you leave a nice review!


	3. The Bigger They Are The Harder They Fall

This chapter includes: Running, foreshadowing, Flynn being a serious captain for those who do crime aaaand some very quick reunions.

I do not own Tales of Vesperia.

0o0o0

_**Steps away from Heaven (I'd rather be with You)**_

_Second Chapter_

_The Bigger They Are The Harder They Fall – While the bigger and stronger opponent might be alot more difficult to beat, when you do they suffer a much bigger loss. _

0o0o

Just before the clock stroke one, Alexei noticed that there was a message on the window sill, under a heavy stone to prevent the paper from flying away.

_Still waiting, waiting is boring, when can kill?_

The message was written on a greasy piece of paper with something red – blood most likely. Alexei read it with a disgusted look and closed the window, returning on his seat. Pulling a clean paper sheet and a pen, he started writing.

_Your target is still recovering from the last assault, which you failed to execute like we planned. Consider this your punishment._

Satisfied with his answer, Alexei took an empty envelope and put both messages in it. He didn't put a seal on it, that would be just a waste for a lowlife like _him_.

Just when the commandant was about to stand up and place the letter back to the sill, somebody knocked the door. A tiny moment of panic rushed trough Alexei's body as he quickly hid the envelope under the nearest book. "You may enter!" he said, both face and voice under perfect control. However, he did feel quite surprised when Scifo's second-in-command, Sodia, entered his office.

"Sir!" she saluted, "Due to the circumstances, I am here as the representative of Captain Scifo's Brigade!" the auburn-haired woman stated, holding out a sleek pile of papers. "These are the reports from our annual expedition in Quoi Woods."

Alexei took them, cursing himself for tensing. "Nothing amiss?" he asked, pretending to look interested while skimming over the papers.

"No sir," Sodia said sternly, "However, like past few years, those who have entered the woods, most of them being citizens of Halure, have claimed to hear disturbing voices coming in the depths of the forest."

"I see..." Alexei muttered, pretending to read the report. "Any theories?"

"The most common theory is of a strong monster – a king of the forest so to speak." Sodia answered immediately.

"Yes, that seems to be most likely." Alexei noticed that the female knight looked like she wanted to ask something. "Anything else on your mind?"

"Sir," the auburn-haired knight started. "if it is truly a monster, shouldn't we eliminate it as soon as possible?"

Alexei, who had expected for a question like that, shook his head. "What ever it is, it hasn't shown any interest in widening its territory nor threatening human settlements. Why should we sacrifice our time and possible lives for something like that?" he explained, closing the report.

"That... makes sense."

There was a moment of silence between the knight and her superior. "You're dismissed," Alexei finally told the female knight who turned around, ready to leave the room.

"Are you by any chance going to visit Captain Scifo?" Alexei asked suddenly when Sodia opened the door. She halted, looking over her shoulder and nodded.

"Well, I shall accompany you then, if this okay?" Alexei said, standing up. He really didn't want to do it, because he was slightly afraid of his personal emotions getting better of him when facing the blonde captain – a mistake that could easily ruin his delicate plan. However, everyone expected him to pay a visit – after all, Scifo was one of their most promising knights and even a captain. Not doing so would raise questions though, something Alexei couldn't allow.

"O-Of course, sir!" Sodia answered, eyes wide. "A-After you, Sir!"

0o0o0

"Holy hell, this place is a frigging maze!" Rita exclaimed as the members of Brave Vesperia strolled on the hallway. No matter she looked, everything was white – from the shining floor to the carved walls – and exact copies of each other.

"It's mainly because we came from the back of the castle," Raven explained, having a slightly nostalgic look in his greenish eyes. "These parts are for knights and occasionally maids, thus looking pretty plain and with a zero security."

"Wait, these are knights quarter?" Karol gasped, "Then why the heck is it so empty?"

"It's one o'clock," Yuri stated. "From eleven to two o'clock, it's training time for rookie knights, which is supervised by their superiors. All the guards are patrolling in the more important parts of the castle, so it's always pretty dead around here during this time."

"I trust this is from your own experience?" the blue-haired kritya smiled.

"But of course not! I was a model example who didn't skip any lessons nor sneak the good wine from the kitchen! And I definitely didn't steal other knight's clothes while they were taking a shower!"

"Oh, you didn't!" Judy chuckled. The group kept running for a while in a complete silence, leaded by Raven and Yuri.

Suddenly, Raven halted, raising a hand to signal others to stop too."We're here!" Raven whispered, looking over a corner. "That's Alexei's office," he said.

Karol looked at the same direction, frowning. "The door with three guards watching over it?" he whispered, gulping when the archer nodded.

"Well, this comes handy then..." Yuri muttered, digging his pocket. "Here ya go old geezer, don't mess up!" he said cheerfully, while giving the other male The Sorcerer's Ring.

"Such pressure on this poor old man..." Raven whimpered, putting the ring on his index finger. Taking a deep breath, he lunged behind the corner. The guards, noticing the movement, turned to look at the dark-haired man, weapons drawn and pointing at Raven. However in a blink of an eye, Raven unleashed the energy within the ring, firing paralyzing energy towards each guard. Each ball of energy hit their targets perfectly.

"The old man still got it!" the archer exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air while the rest of the guild members approached him.

"Now we have five minutes before the paralyze wears off," Yuri kicked lightly one of the guards, causing him to fall over. "Judith, if you do the honor?"

"Anything for you," the bluenette in question chuckled, taking a hair pin from her hair bun as she walked in front of the door. After a small moment of investigation, she put the pin into the lock and with couple turns, the door let out a soft _click_ voice. "Ladies first," she looked at Yuri, opening the door with a devious smirk.

"You're not talking about me, are you?" the swordsman asked, eyebrows raised but still entered the office. "Woman, that was one time and happened after a drinking contest with Natz," he paused, tapping his chin. "And how was I suppose to know that he was serious about the fur coat?"

"Well that sailor totally fell for it!" Rita pointed out, smirking slightly at the memory.

"And so did that waitress!"

"Oy, don't forget that one dude by Colosseum!" Raven snickered, until Yuri gave him a kick in the shins. "Outch! Can't ya take a joke, can ya?"

Ignoring the older man, Yuri crossed his arms. "You guys finished?" he asked, rolling his coal-colored eyes.

"Give us some time," Judith answered sweetly. "But really Yuri, can you blame us? After all, your body is quite slender, even to the point of being feminine and that hair just doesn't help it – despise being absolutely gorgeous."

"Yeah why don't you cut it?" Karol asked. "It would be more practical too, you always complain how it goes over you eyes during battles and such."

"No can do Cap."

"But why not?"

"Because my childhood sweetheart once announced that they wanted to marry someone with a long and pretty hair." Yuri rolled his eyes, already looking around the office.

"Wait, what?" Karol asked, while the rest of the the guild had their eyebrows raised.

"Oh my, do tell more Yuri," Judy ordered, a gleeful twinkle in her violet eyes. "I would love to hear what is your type."

"Well Judy, my type is blue-haired krityas with breasts big enough to have their own orbits," raven-haired man winked.

"Yuri!" Judy exclaimed. "I had no idea you felt that way! But sorry hun, I prefer... shaggier men."

"Like old man here?" Yuri asked, pointing at the man in question – who was now very interest in the conversation.

"Maybe," Judy only smiled mischievously.

"Aside Judy's terrible taste for men," Rita butted in. "We have about four minutes before the knights come knocking! So instead of gossiping like a pair of old noblehags, you could start searching!"

"Temper temper!" Judy laughed, but started examining the books on the bookshelf. "My, these books sure look interesting... 'The history of Imperial Knights', 'All Kings and Queens of Imperial', 'One-hundred and one different strategies used in military'..." she listed.

"Well, this is his office," Karol pointed out, opening a chest behind the work desk. "Oh wow, a World Charm!" the boy exclaimed, taking the golden object from the chest.

"Oo, gimmie that!" Raven ordered, rushing by the guild leader and snatching the Charm from Karol, totally ignoring the boy's protests.

"Are you encouraging stealing?" Yuri asked. "Not very knightly thing to do, right old man?"

Putting the charm around his neck, the older man shrugged. "Meh, the bastard still owes me so this isn't stealing, just taking a rightful payment plus the interest."

Rita raised her head. "Wait... Why the hell Alexei owes you?" she asked suspiciously while examining the glass cabinet.

"Saved his ass from a public humiliation." the dark-haired man said, reorganizing the books on the commandant's desk. After lifting the lowest book, a small white envelope was revealed. "Well well," Raven smirked, tossing the book and picking up the mysterious letter. "What is this?" he asked aloud, gaining everybody's attention.

"Holy hell," Yuri looked over Raven's shoulder. "_You_ found something?" he asked as the other man opened the envelope.

"Your target is still recovering from the last assault, which you failed to execute like we planned. Consider this your punishment." Raven read aloud, a frowning heavily. "This is definitely Alexei's handwriting..." He glanced down at the white envelope. "Wait, there's something more..."

"Well..." Judith interrupted. At some point she had moved by the door and now had her hand on the doorknob. "We'll find out that later, because I hear movement coming from the hallway," she said casually. Her statement was met with a heavy, shocked silence and each one of them could hear the voice of creaking armors behind the door.

"Ruuuun!" Karol shouted and each member of Brave Vesperia did as their leader had said.

0o0o0

"How does it feel?" Witcher asked nervously. "No pains, cramps or such?"

"No..." Flynn replied absentmindedly, still focused on his new right hand. It looked fine, better than he had imagined. It was made of gray steel with no additional adornments or carvings, which were quite usual with the artificial limbs. The cords and other contests were masterfully hidden under the steel, like a gift wrapping to hide the content. Only the elbow looked slightly awkward – with it's weird and out-of-place ball shape – but the practicality was more important than appearance in Flynn's option. And the blastia core was carved onto the wrist part, right under the joints. Flynn poked it with his other hand, feeling the smooth blastia humming under his finger.

"You should try using it, Captain," the medic stated, putting away her gadgets. "Getting use to it from the very beginning will fasten the process."

Witcher nodded eagerly. "Could you try moving your fingers, Captain?" he asked.

The blonde man just nodded, trying to do as the mage had asked. For couple seconds, there was no movement happening, making Flynn both embarrassed and frustrated. But then, after ordering himself in his mind, the fingers started moving, forming a fist just as Flynn had wanted.

"Amazing!" the green-haired mage gasped. "The nerves are already responding to the arm!"

"Well, that is expected from our Captain," medic said.

Flynn kept staring at the hand. He couldn't understand the compliments – he had just moved couple fingers, nothing to be praised over. A newborn baby was capable of doing such a thing, for Heaven's sake.

"Now, could you-" the medic started, leaning closer to have a better look at the hand, but halted when the door was opened, revealing two familiar knights.

"Sodia!?" Witcher exclaimed when the woman stepped inside, but when the second person entered, the mage shot up from his seat like a bullet and saluted. "Commandant Alexei!"

The sights of his superior made Flynn's blood run cold. "Commandant!" he saluted too, using his left hand and trying his best to keep his face free of expressions. He had dreaded of the Commandant paying him a visit. He hadn't wanted his superior seeing him in a state like this – in this weak and fragile form.

"Captain Scifo," the older man acknowledged him with a nod. "How are you feeling? Fine, I hope – despise your unfortunate situation."

Flynn nodded. "I am feeling fine, thank you for your concern." he said, bowing his head slightly. "I am honored to have the Commandant himself visiting me, sir."

Alexei let out a short laugh. "You're one of our most promising knights Captain Scifo – if something worse were to happen to you, the Imperial would suffer a great loss."

The blonde knight felt his cheeks reddening by his superior's compliment. "Thank you for your words, sir."

The silver-haired man gave him a nod, before turning to look at the medic. "How long it'll take to Captain Scifo to regain his full strenght?"

It took a moment until the woman answered. "It's not about the Captain's strength, Commandant. Right now, we just have to wait until he gains the full control of that hand," she explained. "And right now, we're off to a very good start."

"Well, that's very good news," Alexei stated with a tiny smile on his lips. When he was about to continue, the door burst open and three knights entered the room, full armor and weapons in their hands. "Commandant!" they saluted. "Thank heavens we finally found you!"

The man in question raised his fair eyebrows. "What's wrong?" the Commandant asked, wasting no time. Flynn also stood up, despise the medic's quiet protest.

"There has been a break in!" one of the knights replied, panting slightly under the helmet.

"What?!" Sodia gasped, hand already grasping her sword. "I need to see if there's something I can do, excuse me Commandant, Captain!" she saluted before pointing at one of the knights. "You, come with me!" she ordered. The knight didn't object and they both left the room.

"Report, immediately," Alexei said, voice ice cold and expression matching his tone.

"The tentative reports claim it to be a group of six persons – three males, two females and a dog! All of them are armed and..." the soldier paused, taking a deep breath. "There are rumors of one of them being Captain Schwann!"

"What about their motives?" Flynn wondered aloud which made the soldier turn to look at him. "What are their trying to accomplish? The royal treasures, military information?" the blonde man suggested.

"Witnesses' have told that they broke in the Commandant's office!"

"_What?!_" Alexei growled, his expression becoming more fierce than Flynn had ever seen which shocked him slightly. The man himself must have noticed this too, as he then continued with an emotionless voice. "Where are the intruders now?"

"S-Still on run, Sir!" the soldier squeaked, nervous due to his superior's outburst. "They are still inside the castle walls – last time seen in the third floor in the east wing!"

"Then let's shall catch them," Alexei stated. Wasting any more time, he marched out, the knights following him like lost puppies.

"How on earth they got in?" Witcher wondered aloud as soon as the door closed.

"You heard what the knights said, Captain Schwann was with them. That man probably knows every corner of this place," the medic stated with a frown on her face, "Now, we need to concentrate on- _Captain Scifo_?!" She exclaimed. The said man froze, almost by the door with a short dagger in his left hand.

"Where do you think you're going?!" the medic scowled, her plump hands on her hips.

"There are intruders in the castle, ma'am," Flynn said seriously. "I must see if there's something I can do – it's my duty as a Captain!"

"But your hand-"

"... is not a problem," Flynn interrupted, opening the door. "You said it yourself, a proper training is the key to gain the control over this arm – this is a great chance for such a thing!" with that, the young captain rushed out.

The medic and Witcher were left in the room, both listening how the voice of Flynn's footsteps became quieter and quieter.

"The nerve of some people!" the medic scoffed.

"Oh no, I need to follow Captain!" Witcher realized. "Wait, which way he went?!"

0o0o0

Karol had never been the one with speed and stamina. He had always been aware of it, though it didn't bother him.

Until now.

"God-fucking-dammit twerp, run faster!" Rita shouted, looking over her shoulder.

"I'm... trying!" he shouted back, panting heavily between the words. He had a horrible stitch and his short legs were like on fire.

"Well, try harder!" was the answer and honestly, Karol agreed with the mage. He had always thought that strength was more important than speed – thus his slow but powerful fighting style.

The guild leader could hear footsteps behind them. He tried to make his foot work faster, but without results. Suddenly, a sharp pain from Karol's feet paralyzed him, making the short fall flat on his face. Somewhere far ahead him, Karol heard Raven shout something, but it barely registered in his brain, thanks to the pain all over his body.

For a tiny moment, the young guild leader wondered if the prison wasn't such a bad place – at least there wasn't any running involved.

_'No!'_ the boy thought, pushing himself up on his feet. He wouldn't allow such a disgraceful thing to happen to him, or his guild! With this new found strength, Karol speeded towards and for some time, it felt like everything was going to be okay...

...Until he arrived to intersection.

With wide eyes, Karol stared at the three corridors, unable to predict where his friends had gone to.

"There is one of them!" Karol heard someone shouting. He looked at the direction of the voice, which came from the left hallway. "Get 'im!"

0o0o0

The corridors had changed, Rita realized, looking at the walls. They weren't like exact copies of each other, these actually had paintings and flags adorning them. _'We're out of the servant quarter!'_ She thought, turning to look over her shoulder. "Just little more twer-" she halted, realizing that there was nobody behind her. "Guys!" she shouted, gaining her friends' attentions.

"What is it Rita, we're in a kinda of hurry here-"

"Twerp is gone!" Rita interrupted Yuri, slight hint of panic in her voice.

"What?!" Raven yelled, looking around like Karol would pop out of nowhere.

"Repede, go and find him!" Yuri ordered his dog friend. The canine obeyed, lunging deeper into the castle. "And do it quickly, Cap doesn't have his axe to defend himself!" he shouted after the dog.

"I'm gonna kill that little snot-face!" Rita raged, stomping her leg on the floor like an overgrown toddler.

"Well, now we have to trust on Repede," Judith stated, though she was frowning slightly. "Let us find a way out and wait for the boys to come."

0o0o0

Leaving no other choices, Karol turned right, running like a mad animal. Now his main priority was to lose the knights and fast. He took many different turns in intersections, probably circling the area for a moment. However, after long and agonizing moments, his effort paid off and the brown-haired boy couldn't hear footsteps other than his.

Finally allowing himself to catch his breath, Karol leaned against the wall. He was drenched in sweat and his mouth tasted like blood, thanks to his earlier stumble.

That's it, from now on, he was going to take morning jogs.

Wiping sweat of his forehead, Karol failed to noticed that somebody was watching him.

When his breath was becoming steadier, Karol decided to continue his escape. He straightened himself, taking a deep breath before starting to jog again. There was another intersection – probably same one that he had passed earlier. _'This time I'm going straight towards!'_ the brown-haired boy decided, ignoring the corridors that lead to right and left.

It turned out to be a mistake.

Karol didn't have time to react when somebody lunged from his left, tackling them both on the cold floor. Karol's blood turned cold and panic almost overtook his mind. The rush of adrenalin numbed the pain as Karol flailed helplessly on the floor, trying to release himself.

"Stop that!" a unfamiliar male voice ordered above the brown-haired boy. The authoritative tone and exhaustion made Karol obey and he halted, against his will. This didn't go unnoticed by the tackler, who quickly shifted his position. A sword was placed just inches above the boy's neck and his hands were pushed onto the floor with the tackler's knees.

While Karol was eyeing the threatening blade looming over his neck, the same male voice spoke. "I have no interest in attacking an unarmed person – a young one no less – but if you do not cooperate with me..." the threat was left hanging in the air.

Nodding, Karol decided to look up at his tackler. His eyes widened as he studied the person above him.

It was a young and very handsome blonde man with icy blue eyes. He wasn't wearing that clunky knight's armor, which was probably the reason why Karol hadn't been able to hear him. Instead, the man wore a simple tunic with short sleeves, which left an artificial right arm visible.

The limb made Karol's eyes widen. Being an somewhat of an expert with machinery, he could tell that the arm was made with the finest material to make it work smoothly, not to mention the shining hermes blastia on the wrist was clearly polished and very expensive looking. And Karol knew that the Imperial Knights didn't give such things to mere foot soldiers.

In other words, Karol was screwed.

0o0o0

"I have no interest in attacking an unarmed person – a young one no less – but if you do not cooperate with me..."

It was a lie. Flynn had zero interest in harming a young boy, no matter what they did. However, the boy didn't know that and the dagger was threatening enough to convince him.

The boy nodded and Flynn had to move the dagger lower so the boy wouldn't harm himself. Ever since his battle with the assassin, Flynn had started to carry a small dagger everywhere he went so that no matter the situation, he was always armed.

The blonde captain wondered what to do. Should he call out reinforcements or question the kid right here? After a moment of wondering, Flynn decided to do the latter.

"Why are you here?" he asked, using his best commanding voice. The boy didn't answer, just stared right into Flynn's eyes. "Answer me right now!" Flynn repeated, this time louder. The brown-haired kid just shook his head and gave the knight a glare, despise his obvious fear.

The corner of Flynn mouth twitched upwards. The child reminded him of Yuri, both by the stubbornness and foolish courage. "You're a stubborn one, aren't you," the blonde stated toneless. He couldn't let his feelings get better of him. When the kid didn't respond, Flynn sighed. "Well, if you're going to be that way-"

"_Grr..." _a vicious growl came behind them, interrupting Flynn.

The knight's voice died down and even the boy's brown eyes widened. Remembering the guard's report of the intruders, Flynn realized that this must be the dog they had mentioned. Flynn turned to look over his shoulder, only to caught a glimpse of blue and white fur, which made his blood run cold.

"Repede!" the boy cried, relief easily heard from his voice. The canine in question ran closer, a dagger in his mouth and with no recognition in his healthy eye. It hurt, Flynn thought, but moved his own weapon from the boy's neck to in front of him just before his and the dog's knives clashed. Now with the dagger off his neck, the boy crawled father away from Flynn but the man didn't even notice this.

"Repede..." Flynn whispered, questions and thoughts racing in his mind. The dog – who had growled viciously – halted and raised his head. Finally, Repede let out a whimper as he recognized his other master. Flynn was still paralyzed, comprehending the situation. Because if Repede was here, then...

"Repede, run!" the boy, whose existence Flynn had forgotten, shouted and pulled something out of his large back.

The blonde knight stood up, ready to chase when a huge smoke cloud blocked his vision. He coughed, trying his best to search for the boy and dog, but with no luck.

They were both gone.

0o0o0

Meanwhile, by the entrance of the royal castle, the rest of the guild were anxiously waiting for their missing friends. They had found a good hiding place by the bushes which were located right next to the castle walls.

"C'mon..." Rita muttered, peeking between the branches. "I'm gonna kill that idiot..."

"Keep it down Rita," Yuri said next to her. "Thanks to the Sorcerer's ring we managed to paralyze every knight that came across our way, but those two aren't as lucky. So the moment Karol and Repede'll appear, we run to the lower quarters. There's a secret passage to the field and the people there won't rat us out."

"You sound sure about that," Judy stated, falling silent quickly as a knight appeared in their vision.

After some agonizing moments, the knight disappeared around the corner. "I know those people and would trust my life with them," Yuri replied. "So can you do that freaky connection thingy with Ba'ul and tell him to get there?"

"Aye captain."

"Speakin' of captains..." Raven said quietly, "it that...?" he pointed at the entrance, where their guild leader and canine friend had appeared...

… Followed by an army of knights.

"Up we go!" Yuri said, not bothering to muffle his voice. "Over here!" he shouted while standing up. Karol looked up, noticing his friend and the look of utter relief passed his face. The shout didn't go unnoticed by the knights, who now were getting closer to the guild members.

However, even before being able to draw their weapons, Raven used the Sorcerer's ring to paralyze them. "Could ya warn a guy before doin' somethin' like that, Yuri!" he shouted, shooting another energy ball towards a knight that had almost grabbed Karol.

"What the hell happened to your face, Captain Karol?" Yuri asked when the younger boy finally caught up with them.

"Floor... ninja knight... knights everywhere!" the boy replied with a slightly hysteric voice, gasping between the words. "Never again... _never again_!"

The raven-haired man chuckled, ruffling his guild leader's brown hair. "Well this sounds like an interesting story and I would love to hear it as soon as we're safe but now we better run like our asses were on fire!"

0o0o0

"Hank, Hank!" a green-haired boy shouted, running towards the old man.

Signing, the man in question lowered his newspaper. He was enjoying the warm day on the inn's terrace, drinking tea and tasting the innkeeper's newest recipe. "What is it Ted?" he asked, reaching for his tea cup. Although he would have preferred to be left alone, the tone of the boy's voice had alarmed him.

"Neil broke my toy!" the boy cried, showing his toy boat which mast had broke into two pieces. "Can you fix it?" he asked, lower lips quivering threateningly. Hank took the toy, inspecting the damage of the boat. "Well..." he started. "I could probably glue it together," he said, frowning. "although... it probably won't stick well enough to endure your brats games."

Ted only sniffed, wiping his face with the helm of his striped shirt. Hank grumbled under his breath, giving the kid a pat on his head.

"Well maybe you could ask Yuri to fix it next time he comes to visit?" he tried to comfort the kid, failing miserably. The mention of Yuri only made the boy sob louder.

"But he hasn't been here for ages!" he wailed. "Neither has Flynn... maybe they have forgotten about us?"

"Stop thinking about such stupid things right now," Hank answered immediately with a stern look. Good grief he was going to smack those two when they bothered to show their faces here. "Flynn is probably very busy with his promotion and Yuri... well it takes days to get here from Dahngrest."

Just after Hank said those words, loud voices came from the street that lead to the market place. Almost everybody around the fountain turned to look at that direction, curious looks easily seen on their faces.

And then Yuri Lowell appeared, running like Satan himself was chasing him, along with other people whom Hank couldn't recognize.

"Yuri!" Ted exclaimed, happily waving at the man in question. Yuri noticed this and jogged towards them, face covered with sweat. "Hide us, quickly!" he said as soon as the group approached the old man and boy. With raised eyebrows, Hank pointed at the barrels which were placed in a huge pile next to The Red Comet. "Go behind those," he said, still in a slight shock of the man's sudden appearance.

The group wasted no time, literally diving behind the said hiding spot. As soon as Repede's tail was hid, a group of knights came running to the lower quarter, looking quite tired thanks to their armor.

_'Ah, so that's why,' _Hank thought, his questions answered. "Is something wrong, gentlemen?" he called out the knights, who turned to look at him as soon as he spoke.

"Have you seen strange people passing here, old man?" one of them asked quite rudely.

Hank was about to answer but somebody else was quicker. "They went around that green house over there," Ted answered sweetly, pointing at the building in question. "Why are you chasing them?" he asked with a more childish tone than he usually did.

"None of your business," the rude knight replied. "Let's go men!" he ordered the rest of the armor dressed men.

Hank and Ted watched as the knights disappeared around the corner. "You can come out now," the old man said.

"Thanks Hank," Yuri said when he stood up, along with the other strange people. One of them, a young boy, was holding his nose and had tears in his eyes. "Dita I dink you boke my dose," he muttered.

Another brown-haired youth gave the boy a glare. "Oh believe me, after you screw up, I had planned to cause you much more pain than a broken nose."

"Yuri, could you explain what the fu-"

"Sorry Hank but we're in a hurry," Yuri interrupted his senior. "Say, is the hole in the east block still unfixed?"

"The one you and Flynn used as kids?" Hank asked, trying to recall if he had recently heard anything about it. "No, I think it's still the same way, but damn it Yuri, could you-"

"Great," the raven-haired man said before Hank could finish, leaving the older man fuming. "We can escape through that, now let's drag our asses over there and BAM – freedom is ours!"

Yuri was about to start running when Hank grabbed him by his arm. "Have you heard anything from Flynn, Yuri?" Hank asked sternly. There were rumors of an assassination attempt happening in the castle and that somebody had been severely injured during a battle – And the fact that Flynn hasn't visited the lower quarter had made Hank worried, more than he was ready to admit.

"Nope, can't say I have," the younger man replied, eyes not quite meeting with Hank's.

"Why the hell is that Yuri?" Hank asked, sighing frustratedly. He knew that there was some kind of ridiculous teenage level drama going between Yuri and Flynn but hell, they were suppose to be more mature than this! "Isn't he your lov-"

"Well, it was nice seeing you two," Yuri said loudly and Hank could swore that he noticed a flash of panic going through the coal orbs. "But we need to get as far as we can from here before the knights realize they have been tricked." Yuri glance at Ted, giving him a bright grin. "Which, by the way, was absolutely brilliant. And I promise to visit as soon as I can."

Ted let out a cry of joy, pumping his fist into the air. "Bye Yuri and Yuri's friends!" he said while the group started running, leaded by the raven-head himself.

Hank sighed, returning to his newspaper. Kids these days...

Meanwhile, little farther away, Judy was looking at Yuri with a thoughtful look as they passed couple kids playing.

"Who's Flynn?" she finally asked as they ran over a bridge. Her friend's odd behavior when the name was mentioned didn't go unnoticed by her and saying that she was curious was understatement.

It took surprisingly long for Yuri to answer. "My old babysitter," was the only reply she got.

0o0o0

"Report. Now."

Alexei could see by the knight's posture that the news weren't good. This didn't make him feel any better.

"The intruders have left the city, sir," the knight muttered quietly. The commandant took a deep breath to calm himself. A rush of panic ran trough his body as he repeated the words in his mind.

Those damned rats had his letter.

When the white-haired man had entered the office, the first thing he noticed was that the hideout of the envelopment was revealed to the rest of the world, but without the crucial items itself.

"Find them," Alexei ordered with a icy tone. "Turn every stone you'll come across, if it's needed. Find them and bring here." the situation was grave. Because if his speculations were right... It could mean the destruction of everything he had build.

There was knock on the door. "You may open it," Alexei said to the knight who obeyed.

"Sorry for the intrusion," a male voice apologized and the commandant wanted to groan. Trust his luck to have the person he least wanted to see be here.

"No need to apologize," Alexei gave the person a tight smile that felt horrible on his face. "What can I do for you, Captain Scifo?"

0o0o0

You guys have no idea how surprised I am to have this chapter done this quickly. Seriously, I was certain it would take at least two or more months until I was even half way through.

Aaaanyways, I feel like rambling so that shall I do. Let's see... oh, the hint of Raven/Judith is nothing serious as I am not a fan of this pairing. I prefer Judith free as a bird with occasionally one night stands and I ship Raven with Yeager. Yeah, you heard right; Raven and Yeager. C'mon, it's perfect! Their relationship would be like:

Raven:This old man is gonna get some shut eye.  
Yeager: But you're not a old man, Liebe. You're a man in his best age and like a good wine, will keep getting better and better. * creepy shark smile *  
Raven: Ya won't still getting' any- woah hey Yeags, put me down! I need mah beauty sleep- mmph * having the best kiss of his life *

Well, that description fits for any slash/yaoi pairing there is... Also, I think I was suppose to say something else but have completely forgotten about that so goodnight.

Please leave a review if you want me to write the next chapter faster.


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